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> So are the "Perfect-10" horses and the Tevis Winners all the same size?
No.  But there is a demonstratable trend for larger horses to have higher
failure rates due to lameness, in general.  There is also a demonstatable
trend for horses outside the normal size distribution for a given breed to
be less proportionate, which also impacts athletic ability.

This does not say that there are not some darn good bigger horses.  What
it does say is that if you insist on selecting individuals outside the
normal size range for the breed, you will have a more difficult time
FINDING an individual that will have the same athleticism on average and
that will have the same ability to complete, on average.  So if you want
to ride a larger-than-normal-for-the-breed individual, you may have to a)
do more homework to get the job done, or b) make allowances for that fact
by different pacing, etc.

You may be lucky and find the larger-than-normal horse that is so superior
in all other ways that he more than makes up for the size differential. 
But he will be a rare bird, compared to the percentage of horses of
similar quality among his more normal-sized herdmates.

Heidi



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